And just for fun...THE JAPANESE ARE BUILDING A GUNDAM!!! [link]

The completed piece
[link]

I'm sure it's just a statue but WHO CARES?! They're coming for us!!! X9



Legal Fansubs! Please support!

[link]
[link]

Not the Galaxy Express but MAN I WANNA RIDE THESE! I knew it existed and had seen pictures but this is just friggin' awesome! I'm such a nerd! XD

He did all the art for the Train and designed the boat. I believe both are in Japan. I know the boat is.

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Legal Fansubs! Please support!

[link]
[link]

[link]
[link]

Update: So I did some more digging and what crunchyroll.com is, is a legal fansub website. Sounds a bit odd. But I guess the deal Funimation made was that they could post fansubs on their site of the shows I mentioned before. The shows can be sold on Amazon but as fansubs.

And Crunchyroll is hosts fansubs and it is somehow legal.

Not sure how this works but the bottom line is that Funi DOES NOT actually have the real RIGHTS to the shows, just the rights by Toei to show them.

Here is hoping this means they bring the shows over here on dvd.


As you are probably well aware of by now, I really have no time or patience to update with a real journal entry with anything substantial. However I did notice many people haven't really noticed this or rather, haven't known to even look.

As you all know I LOVE old school anime. For me, (tho this makes me sound old I'm really younger than half the stuff I consider to be 'old school' ) the older stuff is, at times simpler and while we all have our definitions of what 'old school' is, (a big part of that definition is simply what you watched 'back in the day,' what got you into anime in the first place.) for me, while simply the stuff I watched when I was younger counts, quite frankly I just like older stuff, older than me even. It felt like stuff that had more talent and better story and writing than some of todays pieces. Hand drawn (while there are many pieces done like that today, my favorite older stuff sometimes were series that animated certain kinds of scenes that now, new pieces would just skip the scene or maybe even change it all together because it was easier.)

I want gritty but beautiful animation; not perfect because of the degradation loss due to the test of time; a story that could make you TELL these guys wanted this industry to move and wanted their story told; art and writing that could make you think these guys drew this like they thought they only had one chance to tell this story, so they would make it work right, now.

I wanna laugh at the same jokes these artists and creators laughed at in these series, I wanna cry with them, I wanna be on the edge of my seat, wondering if my favorite characters are going to be ok.

Sometimes, (and I don't mean this for all of the new series, I really don't) I feel some of the newer stuff is very packaged and about making money. This is a brilliant stand point. I mean it, as a business major and someone who loved this stuff back in the day, this is the 'way of the beast' so to speak. It evolved and grew and grew and it is now with the popularity growing and anime having been accepted as an art form that it is also a money making powerhouse. So much so that so much has saturated the market and for someone like me who is not looking for a lot, I have to search through the 'muck' to get to the 'gold.'

I don't even consider it 'anime' at that point. I consider it 'that show I liked.' Subtitled of course, but still 'that show I liked.' Sure I still watch everything I have ever owned. I'm not necessarily 'out' of anime. But before I bought 'Gurren Lagann' last year, I hadn't bought an 'anime' series in a few years. I was simply happy just rewatching my previously owned stuff; newer or older. But again, it is then simply 'That show I like.'

Now I'm sure it was always about money and one can argue that many of these new artists and directors are just that and want to also share a vision but that is not the point of my ramble.

BACK ON TOPIC! XD

Look, to each their own, like what you like and rejoice in it, but me I like my beer cold, my comics DC and my anime LEIJI FREAKING MATSUMOTO!

Space Pirate Captain Harlock
Galaxy Express 999
Queen Emeraldas
Interstella 5555
Galaxy Railways
Arcadia of my Youth
Gun Frontier
Cosmo Warrior Zero
Space Symphoney Maetel
Maetel Legend

Yes, I'm a dork but those are just some of his works.

Many of you may not know who he is but he is one of the pioneers of the anime industry and we wouldn't have some of the greatest and even worst anime of today without pioneers like him and directors like Rin Taro and Miyazaki, etc.

Bottom line: I have gotten mostly everything Matsumoto has had out over here. It's kind of a mix and match at times; timelines converging in different areas but essentially, his works are all in the same universe. Myself and many other old school fans have had to suffer through old bootlegged, fansubbed VHS tapes from YEARS back, trying to see through the 12th generation copies with faded subs because no one had been able to get dvd quality copies and worse yet, it wasn't as in as high a demand because maybe it wasn't pretty enough because it was all hand drawn and we have digital this and computers that. ("Well...back in my day...uphill...with no shoes..."lol)

Well some of the old school fans had spoken, dvd quality copies did get out there and some new, AMAZING fansubs were created. Many of which you can see on Youtube.

But, that wasn't enough. Certain series were incredibly long (most notably the 'Galaxy Express 999' television series which is 113 episodes.) and we could only get even bootleg dvds up to about episode 30 or so, even for the fansubbers it was hard.

Well, back in April, Funimation had made several deals with certain websites and companies, most notably Toei animation, and has aquired copies of such great works as Leiji Matsumoto's 'Captain Harlock' 1978 television series, his 'Galaxy Express 999' 1978 tv series, and they have also gotten a hold of some great series in their own right like 'Fist of the North Star, and 'Slam Dunk.'

Well I was on Amazon not too long ago and I tried searching for a copy of the GE 999 movie (Viz has lost the rights to the movies so PLEASE Funi, pick that up as well) just for fun to see if there were any legit dvd copies on amazon. (I, myself already had aquired the films on dvd I just wanted to see if anyone could get them up there) Well, what do I find on Amazon but that the GE 999 TV series is up there for download for your Ipod. THE WHOLE FREAKING thing!

Then I find that if you go to their website funimation.com you can click a link to their list of shows and you can stream all of these classic series for free.

Then I found the website crunchyroll.com who had a deal with Funi and are doing that same thing there.

SO WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THIS JOURNAL?!

Old school, new school, it don't matter. PLEASE SUPPORT THIS! Go, watch to your hearts content. Don't deprive yourselves of Space odysseys like Galaxy Express 999 or Captain Harlock, the in your face action of Fist of the North Star and the edge of your seat rollercoaster ride that is Slam Dunk.

My greatest wish is that these go well enough that they eventually get released on DVD. If they weren't, tho I would understand as they may not be as popular and 'shiny' as some of the newer pieces, I would be disappointed and maybe even feel like I was slapped in the face that I came so close to owning these pieces that before I was lucky to get maybe 20 episodes on an old 12 gen VHS fansub tape. T_T


Ummm...if it helps there is alot of new stuff on these sites too? ^_^; Code Geass and the new Naruto just to name a few.


This has been my rant. If you disagree, no disrespect but I don't really care, it's my page and I just wanted to post my two cents and maybe spread some awareness. If this gets any of you interested, then I did indeed succeed.

Thanks.

I've been noticing that a good number of friends have been leaving DA, or rather not really updating like they used to and they simply come and go as they please and watch other artists' work and such.

Obviously the main reason for this with my close friends is that most of us have a facebook account and we use that to keep in touch.

It's a shame that this place basically for a while turned into a blog.

I'm even beyond the blogging stage at this point myself and really what I WAS doing whenever I got around to getting on DA was checking out other artists' work.

But with my life taking over and school and just every little situation that have happened to me this summer, I just haven't had the time.

I'm going to try to still watch my fave artists but I make no promises.

I haven't given up on putting out anything new, but I am in a part of my own life these days.

I mean hell, the only recent deviations I did were just pictures of things I had done with my girlfriend.

I'm not leaving really but i don't consider myself an artist, I consider myself someone who knows what they like.

Will I occasionally draw and put it up at my leisure? Yeah most definitely. But, with the recent REMOVAL of a lot of 'art' I did from years ago, I realized that I only have a few good pieces that I like and the rest is either gone or a scrap.

Certainly not enough of ANY medium to really jump out in the world of DA.

I'm NOT DONE! BELIEVE ME! Actually, what may surprise all is I am currently in the early stages of something.

A piece that frankly, was a long time in the works for me, personally.

Almost something that in a sense ENDS one chapter of my life and begins another.

I'm not saying much. This is completely mine and there will be no 'edits,' or 'additions,' or 'suggestions' if something looks better a certain way.

For my close friends: NO, it's not what you are probably thinking of.

Hopefully, I can finish it in maybe a month or two.

Hope to talk to you all then, but until then...I'll see ya when I see ya.

[link]

Ok so there is a rumor that they will be playing the US in August which MIGHT (tho prolly slim chance) be playing Otakon and Yoshiki has said he LOOOOVES OTAKON.

However, if they end up not playing ota and if there are no VAs that I wanna see, I'm skipping ota for this concert. I mean shit if it were any other time before october of last year and you said X was getting back together, you would be either laughed at or punched in the face because X was NEVER getting back together and if they play in the US, this is the chance of a lifetime for me as a fan. I may never get this chance again. So I gots ta do it.


Just an update of the links in case you hadn't seen them yet and I fugured AB is over so I'll just post the links without all my useless ranting. Near the bottom is the link to part 2 of Jim's Otakon 2006 documentary. Jim, I know you're just doing it when you can but the response from our group has been overwhelming. Hell, Casey and I were talking last night of how to plot to get you to just take what you have, fit it in where you can and just put it on a dvd or something. The people want it Jim. DEMAND IS GREAT! XD DJ even emailed me asking when the next part will be up.


Otakon Doucmentary part 1
[link] It's interesting seeing yourself in a different light. Man Jim got everyone in here.

Otakon Documentary part 2
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The triumphant return of SPAAAAAAAACE GHOOOOOST!! Hopefully leading up to the hilarious climax entitled "Ghost meets car!" Yes this was THAT con! XD

I sing Transformers with Optimus Prime's head
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If it weren't apparent before, I am officially an idiot XD


DEAD FANTASY I
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This is amazing so if you haven't seen it yet, definitely stop and sit a spell and check this out. Part two is coming up and two actually debuted at AnimeBoston this year. The crowd when we saw it was fuckin' off the hook.

DEAD FANTASY II
[link]

And this is the amazing part two. AB congoers were screaming like crazy for this one. Part one was great but this makes it look like a pile of puke XD

oh and the tetris ninjas came back. What til you see this [link]